May 7 (Reuters) - Rivian Automotive ( RIVN ) on Tuesday

reported first-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street

expectations and reiterated its production forecast of 57,000

units this year, due to sustained demand for its electric

vehicles.

The company also cut its annual capital expenditure forecast

by $550 million to $1.2 billion, as it moved the start of

production of its R2 midsize SUV to its Normal, Illinois plant.

Analysts were expecting capital spending of $1.59 billion.

In March, Rivian, known for its larger R1S SUVs and R1T

pickup trucks, said it would start producing the more affordable

R2 vehicles at its existing Illinois factory to speed up

deliveries in the first half of 2026 instead of a proposed plant

in Georgia. That, it has said, would save the company more than

$2 billion in expenses.

The company expects to make 57,000 units this year, while

analysts expect Rivian to make 62,277 vehicles in 2024,

according to nine analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

In February, Rivian introduced a lower-cost variant of the

R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV to drum up demand that has slowed

due to high interest rates and customers gravitating to

less-expensive gasoline-hybrid vehicles.

The Amazon.com ( AMZN )-backed company has been cutting

costs by re-negotiating contracts with suppliers and building

some parts in-house including its drive unit, dubbed Enduro, to

reduce dependency on vendors.

Its transition to new suppliers will help quickly ramp up

production of the newly unveiled smaller, less-expensive midsize

R2 SUVs, the company had said.

Revenue for the January-to-March quarter stood at $1.2

billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.16

billion, according to LSEG data.

The company's net loss widened to $1.45 billion in the

reported quarter, from $1.35 billion a year earlier.

At the quarter ended March 31, Rivian said its cash and cash

equivalents were $5.98 billion, compared with $7.86 billion in

the fourth quarter of last year.